Siemens has a new brake system. It was tested on an A6 and stopped the car in less than half the distance of the standard brakes. Pretty cool. http://www.speedtv.com/articles/technology/automotive/33760/ http://www.siemens.com/index.jsp?sd...87140f64mu20n1147359pFEz3&sdc_sid=1531966648&
interesting. i think i will wait and let them work the bugs out. plus i had a siemens phone before and it was junk, i am not sure if i would trust my life/car in the hands of a company who cant make a cordless phone work right.
lol! Actually, I love my Mitsubishi HDTV. I don't know if I could say the same about their cars, though.
The braking distance of any car is determined by it's tires. You cannot reduce the braking distance by half by putting on new brakes. Maybe by a few feet if the braking system controls threshold braking much better that the previous system. If the brakes are the limiting factor then there are serious design flaws in the brake system. Neat idea. If they get all the bugs worked out and make it fail-safe (i'm not sure how you would define that for a brake system) it would be great.
That's what I thought originally but then I realized I was wrong. For instance, brake by wire allows instantaneous transmission of the brake signal from the pedal to the caliper. A hydraulic system has considerable pump time as the master cylinder pressurizes the lines and forces fluid into the caliper. The electronic motor can put the pad against the rotor in milliseconds once the pedal is depressed. Second, the rubber brake lines flex and give, preventing maximum hydraulic pressure. That's why racers go with steel braided brake lines, which still sometimes bulge but less so than rubber. Also, the fine tuning of the hydraulic system for ABS is not that fine. There is a limit to how fast it can pump, all four calipers are treated the same, and it doesn't keep the rotor on the threshold of friction, it's lock and release. With the electronic system, each individual caliper can hold the rotor right on the edge, and do it instantly, in thousandths of a second, fine tuning the braking forces the entire time. I can't wait to see the specs on the production Audis in a few years. The performance should be unreal.
So a reduction in reaction time....I'll buy that....let's do the math. They use 150ms vs 100ms reaction time....at 62mph (90 ft per sec)...that comes out to 4.5ft reduction in braking distance. So where does the other ~60+ft go? The fastest way to stop is by not inducing the ABS (on dry pavement) so their high tech ABS is not the answer. Flexing brake lines will not extend your distance, it just makes it harder to modulate the brakes. Bottom line? I call BS!
I disagree. In a panic stop the pedal is depressed fully and the ABS comes on, locking and releasing. In old Vipers, you had to modulate it yourself. Now, how fast can your leg modulate the brake pedal? Slower than with ABS. And for every lock and release, you are increasing the distance required to stop. Flexing brake lines also reduce total pressure on the pad, which can prevent you from achieving maximum braking force. If it is as good as advertised, four-point harnesses will be the next safety feature. We'll need them.
Fair to disagree, but it is flawed... The fastest way to stop a car (assuming dry pavement) is by threshold braking, period. If you lock up a tire, you have lost braking force. As for flexing lines; if you cannot lock up your brakes, then we can discuss that point. Any car that can lock up their brakes (every Audi can...) has more pad pressure than required. With that being said, under typical 'daily-drive' circumstances, yes, there may be a reduction of distance. However, that would be due to a driver not knowing how to use the brakes (having to depend on ABS). Unfortunately, there is no indication in the article that this is how they did their test. Think about this, we are talking about at least 60' difference in braking distance! There is no way in hell it is possible. Every person that has any knowledge of brake systems will tell you it is the tire that determines the braking distance on a vehicle that can lock the brakes. I challenge someone to jam the brakes on a car with ABS and without...show me the distances...I bet the ABS doesn't stop the car in anywhere near half the distance. Take that to the next step; how would a fine tuned ABS remove yet another half of the distance? This all comes down to thinking about it.....not realistic from any angle. My $49.95.....
